I don't know about everybody, I'm just saying you shouldn't say "we" thought Dwight was going to be healthier.

Nope, not even I did, but that's how things worked out. Thing is, no one is questioning MWP's health right now, actually he's as healthy as he's ever been in a LONG time and the way he was hitting shots and playing defense I think he'll be needed in this system on that end more than anything else.

Wouldn't trade Metta for Gerald Wallace.

Wouldn't trade anyone in the starting lineup unless it was for a superstar or someone at a level of Josh Smith. That's about it.

Wallace ain't that big of an upgrade AND he's injured, so no.

Metta is a guy worth keeping, he brings it every night.

I'm sick really of every time the guy goes out and has a bad performance rather than credit the guy they say "just wait for him to play terribly, it's gonna happen." and then when he plays poorly or shoots a low percentage despite playing good defense or making key plays down the stretch they say "See he's gonna be terrible all year!" then when he shuts them up with another good game they say "just wait, he'll play bad again!"

I could play that game all day with Pau Gasol but Ron isn't getting paid 20 million, and he isn't paid to be the 3rd option.

Ron outscored Pau last night as the 4th scoring option on the team and when Pau was so on fire he had 10 in the first quarter what do you have to say to that?

Even if you want to say "it ain't all about offense." Ron also played tremendous defense and racked up some assists and fought for rebounds.

Ron is an all effort guy and is needed in situations like that. He's shaping up for his best year in a very long time and I'm not gonna trade MWP priming for the best year of his career in a WHILE for an injured Gerald Wallace.

Yes and last game he was 4-14 and 2-8 from 3. Metta is a guy who will keep shooting even if he is 0-20. We do not need him on the team. The guy dosent know when hes off to just focus on D. Plus he has trouble keeping up on the defensive side of the floor the guy may be in shape but just like Fisher proved a fit body dosent mean you can keep up.

Nope, not even I did, but that's how things worked out. Thing is, no one is questioning MWP's health right now, actually he's as healthy as he's ever been in a LONG time and the way he was hitting shots and playing defense I think he'll be needed in this system on that end more than anything else.

Wouldn't trade Metta for Gerald Wallace.

Wouldn't trade anyone in the starting lineup unless it was for a superstar or someone at a level of Josh Smith. That's about it.

Wallace ain't that big of an upgrade AND he's injured, so no.

Metta is a guy worth keeping, he brings it every night.

I'm sick really of every time the guy goes out and has a bad performance rather than credit the guy they say "just wait for him to play terribly, it's gonna happen." and then when he plays poorly or shoots a low percentage despite playing good defense or making key plays down the stretch they say "See he's gonna be terrible all year!" then when he shuts them up with another good game they say "just wait, he'll play bad again!"

I could play that game all day with Pau Gasol but Ron isn't getting paid 20 million, and he isn't paid to be the 3rd option.

Ron outscored Pau last night as the 4th scoring option on the team and when Pau was so on fire he had 10 in the first quarter what do you have to say to that?

Even if you want to say "it ain't all about offense." Ron also played tremendous defense and racked up some assists and fought for rebounds.

Ron is an all effort guy and is needed in situations like that. He's shaping up for his best year in a very long time and I'm not gonna trade MWP priming for the best year of his career in a WHILE for an injured Gerald Wallace.

Like I keep saying, it's about consistency. Metta hasn't been consistent the last few years. He may have great games or even solid hot streaks. But season-wise, he's been terrible the last 2 seasons. His overall numbers have been declining the last 5 seasons and he just turned 33.

Yes and last game he was 4-14 and 2-8 from 3. Metta is a guy who will keep shooting even if he is 0-20. We do not need him on the team. The guy dosent know when hes off to just focus on D. Plus he has trouble keeping up on the defensive side of the floor the guy may be in shape but just like Fisher proved a fit body dosent mean you can keep up.

And the game before that he was 3/4 from three.

Thing is he isn't going to be forcing it all the time in D'antoni's offense, its taking whatever is open and last night was a pretty good example of it. Last night he did pretty good defensively racking up steals and I've already in another posted gone over why he's had good defensive games this year and the fact his hands are still fast even if his feet aren't as fast, look at his steal totals thus far if you needed any other question.

Metta has been doing better defensively lately and has been staying on people easier, in fact his worst defensive games were when he dealt with a lot of screens or was in foul trouble. He doesn't have as quick of feet as he used to have but his hands are still very fast and reactive.

Thing is whether he's off or on he's focusing on D. You can't keep making the complaint "we didn't get the Artest we paid for" but you actually are right now for the most part and your first initiative is "trade him for an injured Gerald Wallace"

Metta is pretty much shooting thus far what he's shot his "entire career" his career field goal percentage among other things is pretty on point right now.

Asking Artest to shoot 50% is just not something you should expect, he's shot around 40% his entire career so expecting more is silly.

What we expect from Artest is to knock down his open threes play hard defense and constantly give effort. That's what he's been doing, he's not gonna shoot 40% from three, I expect him to shoot perhaps 35%(which is around his career mark)

Hey want to know something funny? Our premiere 3 point shooter Jodie Meeks shoots 35-36% from the three point line for his entire career. Know what Ron shoots? 34% And Gerald Wallace is a statistical worse 3 point shooter than Ron and that's the area we look to feed him the ball on the wide open looks unless he's posting, with which he's VERY efficient at.

Such a major difference isn't it.

Maybe it's time you admit that you overstate your expectations for Metta and expect him to put up career numbers and percentages he's never put up before. Because if you go by stats then Metta's about as reliable a 3 point shooter as Jodie Meeks.

The thing is Ron's positives are often ignored by the "expect him to play bad and THEN comment" bug that people seem to have caught.

It's the same thing they use for someone they want to hype up but in reverse. When they play bad, there's no comment, but when they have a good game they'll bump up a week old thread to say they are right about that player.

It's one of my pet peeves really. Just like in the game day threads when 10 people want to post when a turnover happens but never want to talk about a 15-0 run we go on.

it's easier to complain then to embrace what's good and there's a difference between just complaining and ignoring progress and commenting on where progress can be made.

Of all the things you could pick apart about our team, Metta isn't it's biggest problem.

it's very funny to me that you have the feeling Morris will blossom in D'antoni's system but hope for Ron escapes you.

People don't realize how good this system is for Metta. It's fast enough that it doesn't allow him to over think anything on offense.

Sure he's going to have bad games, he's not a player who is consistent, never has been. Realistically there aren't many players we can acquire that can do better than Metta is doing with the intensity he plays with.

People don't realize how good this system is for Metta. It's fast enough that it doesn't allow him to over think anything on offense.Sure he's going to have bad games, he's not a player who is consistent, never has been. Realistically there aren't many players we can acquire that can do better than Metta is doing with the intensity he plays with.

Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing. This style of offense is much better for Metta as he doesn't have time to think about what he will do he just does it. He has looked good so far in it. Obviously its only 2 games however.

People don't realize how good this system is for Metta. It's fast enough that it doesn't allow him to over think anything on offense.

Sure he's going to have bad games, he's not a player who is consistent, never has been. Realistically there aren't many players we can acquire that can do better than Metta is doing with the intensity he plays with.

This is also my though about Pau. Sure he may not always play consistently for an entire game, but there are very few people who can put up 16+ points and 10+ rebounds night in and night out.

People don't realize how good this system is for Metta. It's fast enough that it doesn't allow him to over think anything on offense.

Sure he's going to have bad games, he's not a player who is consistent, never has been. Realistically there aren't many players we can acquire that can do better than Metta is doing with the intensity he plays with.